Pongamia

The industry

Pongamia is a tropical legume tree producing oil-rich seeds that can be processed into biofuel. Australia has active commercial and research interest in pongamia as a tree crop for northern Australia, with large-scale plantings trialled by industry partners. AgriFutures has identified pongamia as an emerging industry and commissioned a technical and economic appraisal of the crop.

Why tissue culture is required

Seed-grown pongamia shows too much variability in oil yield, tree form, and maturity to support a commercial plantation. The economic case for pongamia plantations depends on clonal propagation of selected elite genotypes — trees identified as superior performers by breeders. Tissue culture is the practical route for producing these elite clones at plantation scale.

• Clonal propagation of selected elite genotypes
• True-to-type performance in the field for predictable oil yield
• Scalable supply for plantation-scale establishment
• Clean, disease-tested planting material

References

• AgriFutures Australia. A technical and economic appraisal of Pongamia pinnata in northern Australia.
• AgriFutures Australia. New research to explore potential of pongamia.